This disclosure is directed to a sunshade, and particularly to a sunshade hook assembly or sunshade hook associated with rear door sunshades in a vehicle. At least selected aspects may find application in related environments and applications.
One or more hooks are typically mounted along an upper portion of a frame forming a window opening, for example, in a vehicle door. A flexible sunshade is typically stored in a rolled fashion adjacent a top region of a door lining near a base portion of the window opening. The sunshade is configured to be selectively lifted upwardly from the door lining and extended or deployed by a customer toward the hooks at the upper portion of the window opening. When lifted or deployed in this fashion, reinforced openings formed in the sunshade along an upper edge thereof are dimensioned for mounting receipt on the hooks adjacent the top of the window opening. Occasionally under certain conditions, the sunshade can become unhooked when disposed in a deployed condition. This inadvertently occurs, for example, if a customer is driving with a rear window in a down or open position, and appears to be more particularly associated with a situation where an opposite front window of the vehicle is also in a down or open condition. As a result of the open windows, the front portion of the sunshade can become unhooked while a rear portion or remainder of the extended sunshade remains secured to the hook. This action subjects the sunshade and associated hooks to additional forces as a result of the wind blowing.
Under extreme conditions, the hook may break in response to these additional forces. It has been determined that the rear hook oftentimes breaks of the first and second hooks that secure the sunshade over the rear window opening. Breaking the rear hook most often occurs because the airflow in the vehicle tends to unhook the front portion of the sunshade. Additional forces are then imposed on the rear hook, particularly a twisting torque is applied to the rear hook by the rear potion of the sunshade as a result of the front portion of the sunshade becoming unhooked. It was also determined that breakage typically occurred along the hook rather than the sunshade.
Accordingly, it has been determined that modifications would be helpful with regard to the structure and design of the sunshade hook in order to limit the prospect for the sunshade becoming unhooked and preventing the hook from breaking, and that also enhances the ability of the sunshade assembly to withstand the force and stress imposed on the sunshade hook and associated bracket even if one portion of the sunshade becomes unhooked and additional forces are imposed on the remaining hook.